Yahbalaha III (ca. 1245–1317) [Ch. of E.]

Mar Yahbalaha III, an ethnic Uighur and a monk of the Ch. of E., was born in
the vicinity of Khān Bālīq (Beijing). As a young monk, he took the name
Markos and became devoted to his spiritual master, Ṣawma. Sometime around 1275 the two of them set out on a
pilgrimage with the intention of visiting Jerusalem. In
spite of travel permits from Kublai Khan, the two encountered numerous
difficulties before reaching Baghdad and meeting
with the
cath.
of the Ch. of E., Mar Denḥa. When the
cath.
died (1281),
Markos was chosen as his successor and took the name Mar Yahbalaha III. His
electors may have hoped that by raising someone from the East to the
patriarchal throne they would gain some advantage with their Mongol
overlords.

Mar Yahbalaha is remembered for his efforts to establish diplomatic contacts
with the Mongols and for his defense of the Ch. of E. against harassment and
massacres by local Muslim rulers. Despite valiant efforts, Yahbalaha
witnessed the decimation of his Church. A particularly savage massacre of
Christians took place at Arbil (Arbela). These sad
events in the history of the Ch. of E. were recorded by Ṣawma who also kept
a record of his diplomatic mission to Christian Europe. The story of Mar
Yahbalaha first became known in the English-speaking world in 1928. In that
year the British orientalist E. A. Wallis Budge published his Monks of Kublai Khan, Emperor of China.